We are excited to present a series of videos to help you prepare for Advent! For the coming Sundays, we will publish a video featuring Fr. Ananias with insights into the season.
Peace be with you. Monk here. Fr. Ananias. Yet again. And so scripture says to us today "and his name shall be Emmanuel, a name which means God is with us."
Do you know what your name means?
Let me tell you a story.
My maternal grandfather, when he was lying on his death bed, and we were preparing to get everything in order for his passing, we decided we'd better go to the church records to make sure we had all his dates correct and in order.
Now, note that my grandmother called my grandfather Wojtek all the time or Wojt just for short, and all his buddies called him George.
So we are at the church and go through the records and what do we find? There was no male born on that day, except one, and his name was Adalbert.
So at 78 years of age, on his deathbed, my grandfather learned of his baptismal name: Adalbert. And you know he just looked at us and said, "Who is St. Adalbert?" So we looked it up in Butler's lives of the saints and explained it to him. He said simply, "Oh, ok."
Now, when I was born, my mother said "I am not naming my kid Guido." Now, my father's name is Guido, his father's name is Guido, and his father's name is Guido! But she said, "Ain't happening. I am not naming my son Guido." And so, she did not. She did not call me Ananias, either, though—I chose that name in holy religion.
So, what's in a name?
It is important for us to remember names mean something.
Michael means "who is like God." Ananias means "God has been good." Mary means "bitterness," and Joseph means "let him add." Jesus (Yeshua, Joshua) means "Yaweh is salvation."
So what's in a name? There are thousands of Christian names from "double A" Aaron to Zepherinus. And it is a commendable practice to bestow upon a child a Christian name at Baptism. But let me tell you, it makes little difference in the long run if your name is Tiffany or Dirk. All that ever and really matters is that you live up to your name—and I don't mean the moniker that your mother and father branded you with at the font, I mean that the name that bestows dignity upon each and every one of us.
I mean the name that should define who we are and what we are, and that allows us to lay claim to our promised salvation. That name dear people is Christian. And Christians follow Christ. Christians believe in Him. They witness to the gospel and live it with every fiber of their being. They mirror and imitate that which down at Christmas. What came down? No, who came down at Christmas.
Love came down at Christmas. And love's name was and is Jesus, a name that is above all other names at whose mention, every knee shall bend on heaven and on earth, and under the earth. Jesus.
Mirror Christ, so He will see Himself in you
So, what's in a name? Oh dear Christian everything! Salvation is contained with a name! I beg you do not dishonor the holy name, do not use it unless in prayer.
Do not besmirch your family name either! And I don't mean Jabinsky, Patinsky, Urgalitis, Tongalitis, or Smith. What are those names? Those are all names that I grew up with! What did they tell me about a person? They told me if they were Polish, or Lithuanian or Slovak, or that they were American. Names speak volumes.
So, I beg you do not defame the name that defines your true lineage. That name is Christian.
Christian is what you are, it is who you are, it is what you will be when you are judged worthy to enter kingdom of heaven. So remember. Adveniat regnum Tuum. Your Kingdom Come. Remember his kingdom is already here, and it is your hope that you will inherit the kingdom to come.
Dear Christians, live your life as Christians. Be a mirrored image of Jesus Christ. And in that, he will recognize you in your judgment because He will see himself, and you will inherit the kingdom.
Peace to you, and benedictions.
